Cacamatl (FCbk8f8r)

Cacamatl (FCbk8f8r)
Simplex Glyph

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description: 

This simplex glyph of the personal name Cacamatl (or Cacamatzin, in the reverential form) shows a frontal view of a maize plant with two cobs of corn, both white with visible kernels and brown silk at the top. The stem and leaves of the plant–shaped something like a fleur de lis–are painted green. The name Cacamatl refers to small ears of corn.

Description, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis: 

This glyph is one of several in the Florentine Codex that has been altered with white paint. In this case, the central part of the plant has been shortened, not a significant alteration. We have one other glyph for cacamatl in this digital collection as of July 2025. It represents the personal name of Cacama, a tribute payer in the area of Huexotzinco.

Added Analysis, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Gloss Image: 
Gloss Diplomatic Transcription: 

cacamatzin

Gloss Normalization: 

Cacamatzin

Gloss Analysis, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Source Manuscript: 
Florentine/Florentinus, Codex (FC)
Date of Manuscript: 

1577

Creator's Location (and place coverage): 

Mexico City

Semantic Categories: 
personal name
Syntax: 
noun(s)
Writing Features: 
simplex or element as logogram
Cultural Content & Iconography: 
Agriculture, Gardens, Stock Raising
Corn, Maize
Food, Eating, Cooking
Gender (male)
Names (personal and/or theonym)
Plants, Flora
Politics, Power, Governance
Social Hierarchy, Commoners, Elites
Cultural Content, Credit: 

Jeff Haskett-Wood

Colors: 
brown
green (light)
white/neutral
Shapes and Perspectives: 
frontal view
Keywords: 

maíz, agricultura, comida, tlatoani, tlatoque, tlahtoani, tlahtohqueh, gobernador, gobernadores, gobernante, nombres famosos, nombres de hombres

Glyph or Iconographic Image: 
Relevant Nahuatl Dictionary Word(s): 

cacama(tl), small ears of corn, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/cacamatl

Glyph/Icon Name, Spanish Translation: 

Elotes

Spanish Translation, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Image Source: 

Available at Digital Florentine Codex/Códice Florentino Digital, edited by Kim N. Richter and Alicia Maria Houtrouw, "Book 8: Kings and Lords", fol. 8r, Getty Research Institute, 2023. https://florentinecodex.getty.edu/en/book/8/folio/8r/images/c9c7ec26-cde... Accessed 26 July 2025.

Image Source, Rights: 

Images of the digitized Florentine Codex are made available under the following Creative Commons license: CC BY-NC-ND (Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 4.0 International). For print-publication quality photos, please contact the Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana ([email protected]). The Library of Congress has also published this manuscript, using the images of the World Digital Library copy. “The Library of Congress is unaware of any copyright or other restrictions in the World Digital Library Collection. Absent any such restrictions, these materials are free to use and reuse.”

Historical Contextualizing Image: 
See Also: 

Cacama (MH526r)